Friday, March 26, 2010

Here is a serious and needed push-back

"Christopher Hitchens' venomous attack on Pope Benedict XVI1 is a revelation that deserves wider attention. Were it not for its appearance in the National Post, it would be difficult to believe that a reputable newspaper would publish such absurdity.

Mr. Hitchens (he approved the above photo for Vanity Fair) states that in May, 2001, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger sent a "confidential" letter to Catholic bishops to remind them that anyone who disclosed "rape and torture" of children by priests would be excommunicated. He claims that Cardinal Ratzinger imposed a ten year "statute of limitations" on actions against clerical sex offenders, and was thus guilty of "obstruction of justice."

These assertions are false. Some of these are handled in John Allen's piece below but this CERC piece is far more thorough. The details heighten the irresponsibillity. Some of these statements are downright malicious provocations. Some are as misleading as the claim Hitchens made on KiA that the Russian Orthodox Church was authorizing an icon of Stalin. A few keystrokes and an email and we were able to falsify the manifestly suspicious pronouncement. He is nothing if not colorful and provocative. Sadly, he is also reckless where he ought to be deliberative and deeply anti-Catholic.

3 comments:

Mmmm, [quote] "[We] were able to falsify [John Allen's] manifestly suspicious pronouncement. He is nothing if not colorful and provocative. Sadly, he is also reckless where he ought to be deliberative and deeply anti-Catholic." [endquote]. Karma Law, rather than Canon Law, eludes:

"What goes around, comes around"

“What soberness conceals, Drunkenness reveals”

“Every path has its puddle”

“It is often the last key on the ring which opens the door [to heaven]”...and to this I humbly suggest, it is NOT one of the two petrine papal keys possessed by His Holiness.

Mmmm, [quote] "[We] were able to falsify [John Allen's] manifestly suspicious pronouncement. He is nothing if not colorful and provocative. Sadly, he is also reckless where he ought to be deliberative and deeply anti-Catholic." [endquote]. Karma Law, rather than Canon Law, eludes:

"What goes around, comes around"

“What soberness conceals, Drunkenness reveals”

“Every path has its puddle”

“It is often the last key on the ring which opens the door [to heaven]”...and to this I humbly suggest, it is NOT one of the two petrine papal keys possessed by His Holiness.